Originally, I thought I could keep up with my Exercise of the Week lesson, but I just don't have the time to be doing that on a weekly basis. So here is a toned down version - the Exercise of the Month. You can expect to see quite a wide variety of exercises here that will help you in many areas of your playing.

I have often said that I love the sound of Dominant 7th chords and arpeggios. I also love the sound of wide intervals in general. So with this exercise, I am combining both and showing you a typical riff that I might come up with for a song of my own.

In the medium and fast audio versions, I have added some backing chords and percussion to put this exercise in a musical context. I think you'll agree it is pretty cool and unique sounding (damn - I am giving away one of my greatest secrets!).

Here we see an Eb Dominant 7th arpeggio, which is the basis for this exercise. The diagram may look scary, and at first it may be scary, but after a while you will have the coodination needed to get your fingers where they need to be!

This exercise has a couple technical aspects that warrant attention. First, we are using purely legato. Believe me, with alternate picking, this would sound not even as close to as good as it does with legato. This type of riff demands smoothness and fluidity, and that can only be achieved with legato.

Things to watch out for: The position shifting needed to execute this can cause all sorts of problems. You may not find your fingers going to the right notes. All I can say is that this exercise may seem very difficult at first for that reason. But after a while, your fingers will develop 'memory', and they will suddenly be effortlessly coordinated. Also, to play this lick really fast, you need to have your legato technique in super shape.

I thought for a while about what I wanted to do for this week's exercise. As I started pondering arpeggios, I recalled a passage from a Jason Becker song that I heard years ago. So I found some tab for it, adjusted it to suit my preferences and learned it to my satisfaction (a couple errors here and there, but what do you expect from a day's worth of practicing!).

After going though this exercise, you will see that the lick is almost entirely made up of triad arpeggio shapes, which are covered in my triad arpeggios lesson. So now we are seeing how one can go from exercises and techniques, to profound musical statements.

Above we see the various arpeggio shapes that are contained in this lick. Notice how they are all triads. In fact, if you really take notice, you will see that these arpeggios are all in the key of D Major. Some of these shapes are repeated at different positions on the neck, as you will see once you start going through the tab. Sometimes you will be playing across 3 strings, sometimes across 5. In the triad arpeggio lesson, I have several exercises that gradually take you from 3 string to 5 string triads, so if you are familar with that lesson, then you may find this lick quite doable.

Don't be scared off by the length of this tab. There are many repeated patterns, which makes memorizing this lick quite easy actually. Just take it piece by piece. First make sure you can play the first triad cleanly (the E Minor), then go on from there to the A Major and B Minor triads. You see those shapes above in the fretboard diagrams popping up everywhere!

I have only recorded this at the fast speed (sorry - I can't keep recording 3 versions of every exercise!). I highly suggest you use the MIDI version to play along at whatever speed you are comfortable with. And also, the actual lick does not end the way I play it, but I needed to end it. You can hear the actual version here:

Lick from Jason Becker, "Altitudes"

I hope you enjoy this one!

Let's face it - guitarists that blaze through arpeggios are a dime a dozen. You don't want to become just another one of the masses, so let's look at an exercise that takes a Dominant 7th Arpeggio and adds some interest to it. Specifically, we are looking at an A Dom7 arpeggio, which would of course sound great over an A Major or A Dom7 chord, or any other chord that can substitute for either of those chords.

Here we see the same Dominant 7th Arpeggio shape that I covered in the 7th Arpeggios lesson. You may want to see that lesson before tackling this exercise.

I find that the use of hammer-ons and pull-offs to be very pleasing when playing arpeggios. It gives a smooth sound as opposed to the choppy sound that you get when sweep picking. In fact, I find myself hardly ever sweeping arpeggios anymore. They just don't sound as harmonically interesting as 7th Arpeggios and other extended arpeggios. So when playing this exercise, take note in the tab where the hammer-ons and pull-offs occur. Also take note of the short, 2 string sweeps that occur throughout the exercise.

After you have become comfortable with this exercise, you may want to play the other 7th Arpeggio shapes similarly. Remember - there are 3 other 7th Arpegio shapes, and they are shown in my 7th Arpeggios lesson.

Have fun with this one!

I am not a huge music theorist, but I have a fairly general grasp of the important concepts. One topic I have always found interesting is scales and modes. I just don't think theory can do it justice. I think once scales become ingrained deeply enough in your playing, that your ears will be arriving at the same conclusions that theory will tell you and then some.

While working on a new song (not posted yet), I noticed that the modes from 2 different keys seemed to work equally well with the backing tracks. Turns out these two keys were a fifth apart. Any book on theory will tell you about the Circle of Fifths and how musicians often use it to cycle through keys. I had always been intrigued about it but never consciously put that bit of theory to use. But I (and you) do not need that bit of theory because it is common sense. Any 2 keys that are a fifth apart (such as C and G, or G and D, etc) only differ by one note (also true of keys that are a 4th apart - note that C to G is a fifth, and G to C is a fourth). So it makes sense then that for almost any song in a given key, you can choose a key that is a fifth or fouth apart and use scales in those to play lead. Chances are it will make your playing sound more harmonically interesting as opposed to playing strictly in key. So the next time you come across a song in say, C Major, think of it as G/C/F Major, because from C to F is a fourth, and from C to G is a fifth. Think of C in this case as the pivot note. Then go above it by a fouth and a fifth to arrive at F and G.

Let me just say a little more. If this sounds confusing, just skip to the exercise! Since every key has 2 other keys a fifth and fourth apart that differ by only one note, then every mode has what I would call 2 "neighbor modes" with which it differs by only one note. In the case of Major, these neighbor modes are Mixolydian and Lydian (i.e. G Major differs from G Lydian and G Mixolydian by only one note). G Lydian goes with D Major and G Mixolydian goes with C Major. So in the case of G Major, we think of it as D/G/C Major. So if the 3-note-per-string mode shapes in my Diatonic Scales lesson are well ingrained in your head, then you should have no trouble switching back and forth amongst similar shapes. The exercise that follows has you doing just that (though just switching between 2 shapes to keep things simple!).

Here we see a G Major scale, with root note shown in purple. We can replace the F# by F (the green notes) and we have the familiar Mixolydian shape.

This exercise in meant to reinforce how similar these two scale shapes are. In this exercise, you start out ascending on a G Major scale, then on the descent you switch to the G Mixolydian shape. You then ascend with the Mixolydian shape and finish the exercise off by switching to the Major shape and descending.

Once you get the hang of this, then add the G Lydian shape to the exercise. But more importantly, just take away from this exercise that by recognizing similar mode shapes, you open yourself up for more creative lead possibilities.

Note: I recorded the audio without a click, but afterwards I tried to add a click to it that fits well. So as you listen, you may find the audio drifting away from the click. The slow file is about 60 BPM as triplets, the medium is about 100 BPM as sextuplets (6 notes a beat), and the fast is about 140 BPM (sextuplets).

I almost thought I wasn't going to get around to an exercise for January! I know what some of you are thinking - I had no better ideas, so I took the easy way out and made an exercise nearly identical to last month. Ahh, but if you look closer you will see that the subtle difference makes them worlds apart.

Last month, I showed you how to take advantage of the similarlity between the Diatonic Modes as a means to add some flavor to your lead playing, and brought up my "Neighbor Mode" philosophy. Specifically, the exercise reinforced the similarity between the Major and Mixolydian modes. This time, we are drawing from the Harmonic Minor modes. I highly suggest you take a look at my Harmonic Minor lesson as well as last month's exercise, in order to better understand and appreciate this exercise.

The idea is to get a more exotic sound by combining similar Diatonic and Harmonic Minor modes. Consider G Phrygian, in the key of Eb Major. That particular mode already has a very Spanish feel going for it, but you may recall from the Harmonic Minor lesson, that the Harmonic Minor mode that matches most closely with the Phrygian mode is the Spanish Gypsy (aka Phrygian Dominant).

Here we see the Phrygian and Spanish Gypsy modes. The green note - the B - would be played in place of Bb in order to turn the G Phrygian into G Spanish Gypsy. The purple note is simply the root note.

Here is the exercise, which is identical in structure to last month's exercise. Now I know - some of you may wish that the exercise was a more meaningful, cool sounding riff. While I certainly could have come up with a nice flashy riff for you, I think this exercise better reinforces the fundamental concepts that will lead you towards your own unique riffs, etc.

What you are doing here is ascending as G Phrygian, descending and then ascending in G Spanish Gypsy, and finally returning to G Phrygian for the descent.

I hope you enjoy this exercise and appreciate the doors that it can open up for you.

Note: The slow audio is played as triplets (3-notes-per-beat) at 60 BPM: the medium and fast clips are played as sextuplets (6-notes-per-beat) at 100 BPM and 135 BPM, respectively.

First, let me apologize for February's lack of a monthly exercise. I suppose I should rename this section "Exercise of the Month, Except for Months With No Exercises".

Hopefully you are not getting tired of seeing exercises dealing with scales. But here is the thing: Scales are the foundation of creative, expressive playing. Once you develop some degree of scale mastery, then your playing will simply become a voice. The fretboard won't seem like this interfering medium that gets in your way of creating phrases, licks, etc. I know that sounds like philosophical nonsense, but you just have to trust me... And when you have your enlightening moment during which my ramblings make sense, then there will really be no need to go to websites learning exercises, because your guitar "voice" will be uttering an endless stream of ideas that are your very own.

Ok enough of that. This exercise is similar in spirit to my exercises in the 3 Octave Scales lesson - it is meant to get you burning through scales throughout the entire fretboard. Whereas those exercises alternate between 3 and 4 notes per string, this exercise is strictly 4 notes per string. And while the 3 Octave Scale exercises had a certain, convenient symmetry, that symmetry is lost in this case, making coordination difficult. But with these difficulties aside, this exercise will help your fingers become more fluid, and you will see a staggering improvement in your coordination. The end result: Your fingers will move upon the fretboard with impressive grace and authority.

I had to shrink this image down to make it conveniently fit. Hopefully you can make it out ok. The important thing to take note of are the 4 note groupings on each string, and the fact that what you are seeing is nothing more than a G Major scale played across 3 and a half octaves.

As with any exercise, you should play it in whatever manner suits you, be it with legato, alternate picking, or both. I play this exercise strictly with alternate picking, and with slides as shown. As I said above, one of the toughest parts of this exercise is the coordination needed to play all those damn notes! So just take it slow. Take advantage of the MIDI file and get some software that lets you adjust the tempo, etc. I think you will find that much more helpful than playing along to the audio.

Note: The slow, medium, and fast audio clips are all played as sixteenth notes (4 notes a beat) at 50, 150, and 190 BPM, respectively.

Few will argue with the statement that Nicolo Paganini was one of the greatest violin virtuosos ever. His caprices serve as gruelling studies into technique and discipline. It doesn't matter if you are a violinist, a flutist, or a guitarist - any one of his caprices will get you well on the way to technical proficiency. I chose Moto Perpetuo (translated: Perpetual Motion), since I had some familiarity with the piece. Having learned a brief excerpt years ago, I found myself revisiting the piece in its entirety. I think you'll find that this short excerpt alone will keep you busy for quite some time! Don't be surprised if other excerpts find their way into monthly exercises!

You will find that this exercise strengthens your alternate picking chops. It is not the type of exercise that can be played at ludicrous speed, like those mindless 1-2-3-4 exercises, but it will open your ears and fingers up to new phrasing ideas. Your fingers will have a newly found sense of authority on the fretboard, as a result of the increase in finger coordination that this exercise causes.

Let me make one very important point right away - I tabbed this piece to suit my personal style and preference. There is no "correct" way to play this. Use the tab as a guide. If something doesn't suit you, then explore other ways to translate the piece onto the fretboard.

As you explore this exercise, you will soon see that there are recurring patterns, which will make the exercise length seem less daunting. At first, you may want to focus on these patterns before tackling the whole piece. For instance, practice just the first first four bars initially, and ease your way into the rest of the exercise over the course of a few days.

Play the exercise using strict alternate picking, except in places where you are moving across 3 strings consecutively, in which case a sweeped downstroke may be the best way to go. And even though it will be more difficult, I suggest playing this on an acoustic guitar or on a clean amp setting with your electric.

To save storage space, I recorded just a fast audio clip at 165 BPM. However, what you really want to be doing is playing along to the MIDI. Download a MIDI player that allows you to adjust the tempo. A search on google should turn something up. Then adjust the tempo to match your ability.

Good luck, and be patient with this exercise. You will appreciate the payoff!

As some of you may have noticed, there was no monthly exercise in May. I was pretty much on vacation the whole month (pictures from my vacation: http://www.pbase.com/bhuether/recent_travels). I wasn't about to let June slip away without an exercise to get you practicing and thinking!

To get the most appreciation for this exercise, you should take some time to go through my diatonic scales lesson. In that lesson, I show 3-note-per-string patterns for all the scale modes. 3-note-per-string patterns have several benefits. For one thing, they lend themselves to symmetrical picking patterns. Furthermore, they allow you to cover more ground on the fretboard, compared with the "boxy" scale patterns that so many books like to show.

When you become comfortable enough with these scale patterns, you start realizing how you can modify them to come up with creative ways of expression. In this exercise, for instance, you are discarding a certain note on each string, thereby arriving at a 2-note-per-string pattern. The result is similar to 7th and other extended arpeggios, but has a unique quality unto itself.

Here we see a 3-note-per-string Dorian shape - namely, D Dorian in the key of C. But of course, in a sense, all the modes are contained in one another. I have highlighted the G note to illustrate this point. By starting on the G, we are using the Mixolydian mode. This Mixolydian shape then provides the basis of this exercise.

As I said above, in this exercise, we are in essence destroying the 3-note-per-string symmetry, and playing just 2 notes per string. The tablature illustrates this. Also note, that during the descending part of the riff, we are not necessarily playing the same 2 notes on a given string that we played during the ascending part. This furthermore gives the riff a unique, harmonic quality. For experimentation, come up with your own, similar riffs using the other modes. The possibilities are nearly endless!

Like I always say, you should play the riff however you want - picking, legato, both. I played the riff solely with legato - the only role my picking hand played was to reach behind my fretting hand and mute the strings. This technique allows for incredibly fluid playing.

The tab shows the exercise as strictly eighth notes. I entered it that way simply to illustrate the riff. When you play it, experiment with whatever rhythm works for you! I recorded each clip with a metronome click to demonstrate just one possibility. The point of this exercise is not for you to play it just like I do. The point is to walk away with a newfound sense of appreciation for what can be done with scales!

It seems that when it comes to technique, most people equate speed with difficulty. The faster a piece is, the more difficult. This mindset has spawned a generation of players who feel that their picking hand has to live and breeth speed. All picking motions are optimized to play 16th notes at as fast a tempo as possible (what is it with the 16th note obsession anyway?). Consider sweep picking. In my Triad Arpeggios lesson, I covered this common technique for arpeggio execution. Sweep picking lends itself to speed. No doubt about that. And it also seems to have a misleading reputation as being one of the toughest techniques to develop. I don't find that to be the case. Having familiarized myself with just about every technique imaginable on the guitar, I can say that alternate picking across strings is perhaps situated very near the top of the technical difficulty pyramid. In fact, that is the precise reason why techniques like sweep picking arose - to enable speed while crossing strings. But with this exercise, you will forget about sweep picking, and will play an arpeggio exercise strictly with alternate picking. If you are used to alternate picking linear passages, designed for speed (like I used to be!), then this exercise may knock you on your ass. I just started doing this myself last week, and I have found that it has done wonders for general coordination. My picking hand now seems to move in new ways, unleashing new forms of phrasing, that were previously not part of my playing. With that said, the goal of this exercise really is not about the exercise itself. Does that make sense? I didn't think so. The goal of this exercise is to see how it changes your own playing. Perhaps you will be as pleasantly surprised as I have.

Here we see three familar triad arpeggio shapes - major, diminished, and minor. The entire exercise is based on these shapes. You may recall from my Triad Arpeggio lesson, that for any major key, notes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 correspond to major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, and diminished triads, respectively. So before tackling this exercise, be sure that you are comfortable with these shapes, as you will be weaving in and out of them.

Here wee see the tab and standard notation for this exercise. The exercise involves sequencing through all the traid arpeggios in the key of G Major, using triplet note groupings. Each triad chord is noted. The exercise is to be played strictly with alternate picking. Start slowly and play to a metronome. Don't expect to blaze through this exercise. Really focus on maintaining the triplet feel, by accenting the first note of each triplet.

In addition to being an exercise in alternate picking and coordination, this exercise also reinforces Diatonic Harmony, and like many of my exercises, teaches you to play in key throughout the fretboard. If you are playing this on an electric, then I challenge you to extend the exercise further up the neck. In other words, don't stop at the C major triad - continue with D major, E minor, F# diminished, and G major. That is what I do when I play this on an electric.

I have spent a majority of my guitar playing years focusing on the technical side of the instrument - scales, picking, arpeggios, etc, etc. In fact, you can probably figure that out just by taking a look at what I offer here - an endless array of technical exercises! But even though the site doesn't show it, for the past few years I have made it my personal mission to get my chord chops on par with my technical chops. It is no easy task and I have quite a ways to go. But I think we can take a similar approach as we do with technique-building. We just apply the same rigor and discipline to chords. So in this exercise, we examine 7th chords (I really should start off with triad chords, but bear with me...), and arrange them in a scale-like fashion so that we are on familiar ground.

I won't get too theoretic here. First, consider the G major scale. It has the notes G, A, B, C, D, E, F#. To form 7th chords, we stack thirds. Let's start with G. Adding a third to that we get B. Adding a third to B, we get D. Lastly, adding a third to D, we get F#. Now let's look at the spacing between these notes. Between G and B, we have 2 steps, otherwise known as a major third (maj3). Between B and D, there are 1.5 steps, which is known as a minor third (min3). Finally, between D and F#, there are 2 steps - yet again a major third. This pattern of thirds - maj3, min3, min3 - makes up a major 7th chord. If we now start at the A, and stack thirds again, we find that from A to C is a minor third, C to E is a major third, and E to G is a minor third. This pattern of min3, maj3, min3 defines a minor 7th chord. If we proceed similarly for each note, we find that there are 4 unique 7th chords, based on these patterns of thirds. These 4 7th chord types are shown below:

7th chord type	pattern of thirds
Major 7	maj3, min3, maj3
Minor 7	min3, maj3, min3
Dominant 7	maj3, min3, min3
Minor 7 b5 (i.e. Half Diminished 7)	min3, min3, maj3

Now let's see where these different 7th chord types appear in relation to a major scale.

Scale tone	Mode	7th chord type
1	Major (Ionian)	Major 7
2	Dorian	Minor 7
3	Phrygian	Minor 7
4	Lydian	Major 7
5	Mixolydian	Dom 7
6	Minor (Aeolian)	Minor 7
7	Locrian	Minor 7 b5

This table tells us that for any major key, the 1st and 4th tones correspond with major 7th chords; the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th, go with minor 7th chords; the 5th goes with a dominant 7th, and the 7th goes with minor 7th b5. So in the key of G Major, we have G Maj7, A Min7, B Min7, C Maj7, D Dom7, E Min7, F# Min7b5.

In the above diagram, you see some common voicings for diatonic 7th chords. We will be using these shapes in the exercise. There are quite a few others, and I highly recommend getting a good book on chords to help guide you through your quest for chord mastery.

Essentially what you are doing with this exercise, is playing a "chord scale". You are going through each note of the G Major scale and playing the corresponding 7th chord. The most challenging aspect of this exercise is the position shifting, and the rearranging of your fingers needed to play the different chord shapes. So start your metronome on a slow speed, and sequence through the chords as shown in the tab. And as you are going through this exercise, relate it to what was discussed earlier. Make sure that the pattern outlined in the table above is imprinted in your mind. Adapt the exercise to other keys to reinforce that pattern. The goal is to mentally unite scales, modes, and chords. I hope this exercise helps towards that end.

I believe that whenever possible, a guitarist should practice such a variety of exercises so that the fret and pick hand become accustomed to virtually any scenario that comes their way. Too often, I see guitarists relying on a small set of riffs and tricks, but they don't have the generalized skills to go beyond that. Let's consider scales. It is hard enough to convince players that the tremedous patience and dedication needed to develop scale proficiency is well worth the effort. But often, if a player does open themselves up to scales, they are still limiting themselves by sticking to so-called box patterns. This exercise, like many others on this site, is designed to empower you with the ability to navigate the fretboard with utter freedom. It is similar in spirit to my 3-Octave-Scales exercises. But instead of playing the scale in a straight-forward ascending or descending pattern, we are sequencing it. Specifically, we are playing it in consecutive triplets. Ascending a scale in triplet form has an inherent sense of power and drama. The consecutive triplets add tension and buildup by prolonging the inevitable climax (Yes - we are still talking about the exercise...). The use of scale patterns like this are used extensively in classicial music, especially by violinists.

This exercise is dual-purposed. Not only does it reinforce scales, but it is also a great alternate picking chops builder. When it comes to alternate picking, I find that players often fall into the same trap they do with scales - they limit themselves. For instance, my alternate picking exercises are meant to be used as building blocks. By themselves they are very limiting. But I think you will find that alternate picking this exercise will do wonders for left-right hand coordination and endurance.

Here we see a 3-octave G Major scale. This is the territory that your hands will be covering!

I find the best way to keep rhythm with this exercise is to consider 12 note groupings as shown in the tab. These groupings are symmetric, in the sense that each one consists of a 3-note-per-string portion of the scale on two adjacent strings.

As I said above, I think this exercise is a great alternate picking chops builder, so I suggest playing it as such. To get a nice crisp sound, I suggest palm muting the low strings. I did not play to a click track, but if you want to use a metronome, then I suggest setting it to a tempo that allows you to comfortably play the exercise as triplets. And as always, I suggest playing along to the MIDI file, and adjusting the MIDI tempo as you start progressing.

Til next month.

-brian

One of the most common progressions in rock/jazz/pop is the so-called I VI II V. In Bb Major, for instance, the chords Bbmaj7 Gm7 Cm7 Fmaj7 make up a I VI II V progression (you could also play the progression with triad chords or with a mixture of triad and 7th chords, etc). Now let's look at the relative minor in Bb. Recalling the diatonic scales lesson, you should recall that the 6th note (mode) of a major scale corresponds to the relative minor. In Bb, that gives us G. So we could create a I VI II V progression with a minor flavor, by thinking of the G as the I chord. One resulting chord progression would be Gm Ebmaj7 Am7b5 Dm7. But let's not stop there - let's give it an even more interesting sound by playing the harmonic minor equivalent. All we do is replace the Dm7 with a D7b9. In a later lesson I will cover the fundamentals of harmony, but for now just trust me that this is a I VI II V progression in harmonic minor.

The harmonic minor has a tainted reputation thanks to Yngwie Malmsteen and his endless cadre of copycats. You may have heard the word "Neoclassical" used to describe these players. While these players rely heavily on the harmonic minor scale, they only brush upon its potential. To truly appreciate the potential of harmonic minor, listen to some jazz and flamenco. I think you will find that the musical expression afforded by harmonic minor and its modes is endless. And you can certainly use harmonic minor without sounding neoclassical...

This chord progression (and many others) has a certain quality that I think lends itself to improv. With that said, this exercise multi-faceted. On the one hand, it is introducing you to some chords that may not be part of your chord vocab. Secondly, it gives you an a